Colorado Rockies left fielder Matt Holliday (5) swings hard during the 4thinning against the Chicago Cubs Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at Coors Field. Holliday walked on this at bat. John Leyba/ The Denver Post

The one that could include someone other than Matt Holliday in left field.

As frustrating as it was to watch the Rox flail away against mediocre Milwaukee pitching, the day wasn’t a total loss. It did, after all, provide a reality check. As in, that’s what the Rockies are without Holliday in their lineup.

Without Holliday, the Rockies struggle to compete, much less win. Without Holliday, the middle of their order consists of Todd Helton, whose best years are in the rear-view mirror, Garrett Atkins, whose career splits are significantly better at home than on the road, and Brad Hawpe, a big swinger whose boom-or-bust ways can be maddening.

Everything changes when Holliday is on the field. Teammates get better pitches to hit. They’re not forced to leave their comfort zones by hitting out of their usual spots in the order. Balls fly into the seats, often off Holliday’s bat, instead of dying at the warning track.

Holliday is scheduled to return from the disabled list tonight. Is it any wonder the Rockies were 5-9 in his absence? Memo to the Monfort Bros.: It’s no fluke, boys. It’s called reality.

This has to be about more than money, about ownership’s out-of-hand refusal to give an elite player an elite contract. The Rockies’ braintrust has to know how vital Holliday is to this team. Sure, they’ve got some nice players, but only Holliday is indispensable.

Without him, the Rockies would once again become one of the game’s bottom feeders, a team not worth the price of admission, much less six-buck beers. More than games would be lost without Holliday around. Jobs would soon follow.

Most people I’ve talked to believe that, in the end, the Rockies won’t pay Holliday. Instead, they’ll bail out and try to get a few prospects before squaring off with Holliday’s agent, Scott Boras.

Here’s hoping it’s a force of habit, that all those people have become so accustomed to the Rockies’ penny pinching ways, they’re assuming they’ll pinch them with Holliday, too. Here’s hoping that, in the end, the Monforts find a way to get a deal done.

At the moment, the question is whether they’re looking for a way. If not, if Dan O’Dowd gets marching orders to unload Holliday, the Rockies’ owners would have made their most serious miscalculation yet.

Follow Jim Armstrong’s daily sports commentaries on The Jimmy Page midday during the week. And read his columns on Sundays at denverpost.com/jimmy.